Today, individuals can utilize numerous methods for recording digital images of photographed subjects, be they still or video. Consumers can capture these images with digital cameras, cell phone cameras, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and/or other smart devices. Such devices have the ability of storing these images for later access, and further support the ability to disseminate them via the internet.
Currently such captured images must be uploaded to a physical “service station” like those typically found at a retail outlet, or to a personal computer in order to access an on-line service for the purpose of buying digital photographic prints. The service station process requires that the consumer use compatible media for input: e.g. a memory card such as a flash stick, or a diskette, which can be inserted into a computing device, read, and then processed by the CPU to initiate the imaging production process. Similarly, a consumer can attach the recording device by cable through an input port to a personal computer, download and then print the image using either a personal printer or an online service. A consumer can also use low range Bluetooth technology to beam an image to a device in close proximity of their camera or smart device. However, nowhere among these existing process are consumers able to synchronize a captured image to a user-specific account established with an applications provider, where post capture processing is automated according to the subscriber's preferences, such post capture processing including the automated combing of the captured image with a frame, a watermark and/or an audio file.